[ltokuda]

I understand where both nsr and sdr are coming from. I think the difference in opinion is a result of the type of fan you are of wines. The casual fan may like one type of wine while a student of wine may prefer another. You can probably find discrpancies like this in any subject area.

For example, a lot of people, including myself, love to watch movies. But not everyone loves to study them. When you poll professional movie critics, they generally regard “Citizen Kane” as the greatest movie of all time. I watched it and at the end of the day, I DIDN’T GET IT. I consider myself a bit more than a casual fan because I do re-watch movies with the director’s commentary on and I do make an effort to understand the nuances of film making. But I still don’t understand “Citizen Kane” …

Another example: An architect friend of mine took a group of us to the Salk Institute to look at the amazing architecture of the building. He went on an on about how cool it was. Everyone else thought is was butt ugly.

So back to wines … I think that most casual wine fans judge a wine by the following qualities (in order of importance):

1) balance of flavor
2) level of smoothness
3) complexity

I think the balance of flavors is probably one of most important quality for a casual wine fan. At the end of the day, you want the wine to “taste good”. The other important quality is the right level of smoothness. There has to be enough of an edge to let you know you’re not drinking grape juice. But a mouth puckering powerhouse would be beyond overkill for most people. The least important factor is probably complexity. But I think people really do appreciate a complex wine, if only sub-consciously.

Students of wine judge a wine on a much greater array of qualities (finish, intensity, mouthfeel, aging potential, etc). I also think students tend to value complexity more and have a wider appreciation for levels of smoothness.

Reviews by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are all done by students of wine. Their judging criteria is not the same as a casual fan’s criteria. So they might give 90 points to a big, bold, complex cab that had some deficiencies in flavor balance and smoothness. But a casual fan might try the same wine and just decide that it doesn’t “taste good” or be turned off by the tannins.

I used to wonder why certain winery’s had such a huge fan following and were able to command such high prices. Even if their wines didn’t taste “expensive”, people seemed to love them. After trying enough of them, I realized that these winery’s were great at creating wines for the casual fan (which is most of us). Not huge. Not intense. Not overly complex. Just very well balanced in terms of flavor and smoothness.

If you are a student of wine or would like to be one, then Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are great resources to help you learn. Their ratings have served me well for many years. If that doesn’t work for you, then going wine tasting or getting recommendations from people with similar tastes as yours is a great way to go.

[ltokuda]

I understand where both nsr and sdr are coming from. I think the difference in opinion is a result of the type of fan you are of wines. The casual fan may like one type of wine while a student of wine may prefer another. You can probably find discrpancies like this in any subject area.

For example, a lot of people, including myself, love to watch movies. But not everyone loves to study them. When you poll professional movie critics, they generally regard “Citizen Kane” as the greatest movie of all time. I watched it and at the end of the day, I DIDN’T GET IT. I consider myself a bit more than a casual fan because I do re-watch movies with the director’s commentary on and I do make an effort to understand the nuances of film making. But I still don’t understand “Citizen Kane” …

Another example: An architect friend of mine took a group of us to the Salk Institute to look at the amazing architecture of the building. He went on an on about how cool it was. Everyone else thought is was butt ugly.

So back to wines … I think that most casual wine fans judge a wine by the following qualities (in order of importance):

1) balance of flavor
2) level of smoothness
3) complexity

I think the balance of flavors is probably one of most important quality for a casual wine fan. At the end of the day, you want the wine to “taste good”. The other important quality is the right level of smoothness. There has to be enough of an edge to let you know you’re not drinking grape juice. But a mouth puckering powerhouse would be beyond overkill for most people. The least important factor is probably complexity. But I think people really do appreciate a complex wine, if only sub-consciously.

Students of wine judge a wine on a much greater array of qualities (finish, intensity, mouthfeel, aging potential, etc). I also think students tend to value complexity more and have a wider appreciation for levels of smoothness.

Reviews by Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are all done by students of wine. Their judging criteria is not the same as a casual fan’s criteria. So they might give 90 points to a big, bold, complex cab that had some deficiencies in flavor balance and smoothness. But a casual fan might try the same wine and just decide that it doesn’t “taste good” or be turned off by the tannins.

I used to wonder why certain winery’s had such a huge fan following and were able to command such high prices. Even if their wines didn’t taste “expensive”, people seemed to love them. After trying enough of them, I realized that these winery’s were great at creating wines for the casual fan (which is most of us). Not huge. Not intense. Not overly complex. Just very well balanced in terms of flavor and smoothness.

If you are a student of wine or would like to be one, then Wine Spectator and Wine Advocate are great resources to help you learn. Their ratings have served me well for many years. If that doesn’t work for you, then going wine tasting or getting recommendations from people with similar tastes as yours is a great way to go.

[ltokuda]

P/E ratio’s are calculated as (Current Stock Price) / (Earnings over the past year). Historically, an average of 16.4 is probably about right.

The article uses 2011 ESTIMATED earnings to calculate the P/E ratio. So they are talking about FUTURE earnings; not PAST earnings. You can’t compare an estimated future P/E ratio (which is effectively a guess) against historical P/E ratio’s.

[ltokuda]

P/E ratio’s are calculated as (Current Stock Price) / (Earnings over the past year). Historically, an average of 16.4 is probably about right.

The article uses 2011 ESTIMATED earnings to calculate the P/E ratio. So they are talking about FUTURE earnings; not PAST earnings. You can’t compare an estimated future P/E ratio (which is effectively a guess) against historical P/E ratio’s.

[ltokuda]

P/E ratio’s are calculated as (Current Stock Price) / (Earnings over the past year). Historically, an average of 16.4 is probably about right.

The article uses 2011 ESTIMATED earnings to calculate the P/E ratio. So they are talking about FUTURE earnings; not PAST earnings. You can’t compare an estimated future P/E ratio (which is effectively a guess) against historical P/E ratio’s.

[ltokuda]

P/E ratio’s are calculated as (Current Stock Price) / (Earnings over the past year). Historically, an average of 16.4 is probably about right.

The article uses 2011 ESTIMATED earnings to calculate the P/E ratio. So they are talking about FUTURE earnings; not PAST earnings. You can’t compare an estimated future P/E ratio (which is effectively a guess) against historical P/E ratio’s.

[ltokuda]

P/E ratio’s are calculated as (Current Stock Price) / (Earnings over the past year). Historically, an average of 16.4 is probably about right.

The article uses 2011 ESTIMATED earnings to calculate the P/E ratio. So they are talking about FUTURE earnings; not PAST earnings. You can’t compare an estimated future P/E ratio (which is effectively a guess) against historical P/E ratio’s.

[ltokuda]

As others have pointed out, it sounds like this article only counts the number of GOVERNMENT jobs that were saved/created by the stimulus. It does not consider the number for PRIVATE SECTOR jobs that may have been saved/created.

The Los Angeles controller who did the audit is just doing his job by limiting the scope of his report to government jobs. It is what it is. But you can’t really draw any conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the stimulus based on that report.

[ltokuda]

As others have pointed out, it sounds like this article only counts the number of GOVERNMENT jobs that were saved/created by the stimulus. It does not consider the number for PRIVATE SECTOR jobs that may have been saved/created.

The Los Angeles controller who did the audit is just doing his job by limiting the scope of his report to government jobs. It is what it is. But you can’t really draw any conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the stimulus based on that report.

[ltokuda]

As others have pointed out, it sounds like this article only counts the number of GOVERNMENT jobs that were saved/created by the stimulus. It does not consider the number for PRIVATE SECTOR jobs that may have been saved/created.

The Los Angeles controller who did the audit is just doing his job by limiting the scope of his report to government jobs. It is what it is. But you can’t really draw any conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the stimulus based on that report.

[ltokuda]

As others have pointed out, it sounds like this article only counts the number of GOVERNMENT jobs that were saved/created by the stimulus. It does not consider the number for PRIVATE SECTOR jobs that may have been saved/created.

The Los Angeles controller who did the audit is just doing his job by limiting the scope of his report to government jobs. It is what it is. But you can’t really draw any conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the stimulus based on that report.

[ltokuda]

As others have pointed out, it sounds like this article only counts the number of GOVERNMENT jobs that were saved/created by the stimulus. It does not consider the number for PRIVATE SECTOR jobs that may have been saved/created.

The Los Angeles controller who did the audit is just doing his job by limiting the scope of his report to government jobs. It is what it is. But you can’t really draw any conclusions about the overall effectiveness of the stimulus based on that report.

[ltokuda]

[quote=sdrealtor]Be cautious with someone like that as there is a big difference between blogging about housing and understanding the nuts and bolts of real estate transactons. I find it ironic when someone who is so anti housing realizes there is no money to be made in what they are doing and sooner or later they become the very people they have spent years demonizing. From what i have seen they havent been sucessful in their transitions. Powayseller?Mr. Mortgage? There are a few others but those immediately come to mind. Sooner or later we’ll see Ben Jones Realty & Mortgage.

FWIW, a buy vs rent calculation can be found just about anywhere on line.[/quote]

I agree. You should always be careful and always do your research.

However, the comparison to Mr. Mortgage and Powayseller is rather unfair. Both of those bloggers were obvious hacks.

On the other hand, IHB seems to provide very sound analysis. And they are not anti-housing; they are anti-outrageously-overpriced-housing. They are pro-housing-for-the-right-price. Yes, they still pick on realtors a lot, but only the bad ones. They also praise the good ones. You can read about their qualifications on their website.

Buy Vs. Rent calculators are available but how many realtors (representing you in buying an overpriced house) will break down how much money you’re losing a month by not renting? You can check out some of their sample reports here.

http://www.idealhomebrokers.com/reports/

I think the reports are pretty good. All that being said, I don’t know if they are good realtors or not. But regardless of whether you use them, you might want to read about their views on Vegas investment properties.

[ltokuda]

[quote=sdrealtor]Be cautious with someone like that as there is a big difference between blogging about housing and understanding the nuts and bolts of real estate transactons. I find it ironic when someone who is so anti housing realizes there is no money to be made in what they are doing and sooner or later they become the very people they have spent years demonizing. From what i have seen they havent been sucessful in their transitions. Powayseller?Mr. Mortgage? There are a few others but those immediately come to mind. Sooner or later we’ll see Ben Jones Realty & Mortgage.

FWIW, a buy vs rent calculation can be found just about anywhere on line.[/quote]

I agree. You should always be careful and always do your research.

However, the comparison to Mr. Mortgage and Powayseller is rather unfair. Both of those bloggers were obvious hacks.

On the other hand, IHB seems to provide very sound analysis. And they are not anti-housing; they are anti-outrageously-overpriced-housing. They are pro-housing-for-the-right-price. Yes, they still pick on realtors a lot, but only the bad ones. They also praise the good ones. You can read about their qualifications on their website.

Buy Vs. Rent calculators are available but how many realtors (representing you in buying an overpriced house) will break down how much money you’re losing a month by not renting? You can check out some of their sample reports here.

http://www.idealhomebrokers.com/reports/

I think the reports are pretty good. All that being said, I don’t know if they are good realtors or not. But regardless of whether you use them, you might want to read about their views on Vegas investment properties.

[ltokuda]

[quote=sdrealtor]Be cautious with someone like that as there is a big difference between blogging about housing and understanding the nuts and bolts of real estate transactons. I find it ironic when someone who is so anti housing realizes there is no money to be made in what they are doing and sooner or later they become the very people they have spent years demonizing. From what i have seen they havent been sucessful in their transitions. Powayseller?Mr. Mortgage? There are a few others but those immediately come to mind. Sooner or later we’ll see Ben Jones Realty & Mortgage.

FWIW, a buy vs rent calculation can be found just about anywhere on line.[/quote]

I agree. You should always be careful and always do your research.

However, the comparison to Mr. Mortgage and Powayseller is rather unfair. Both of those bloggers were obvious hacks.

On the other hand, IHB seems to provide very sound analysis. And they are not anti-housing; they are anti-outrageously-overpriced-housing. They are pro-housing-for-the-right-price. Yes, they still pick on realtors a lot, but only the bad ones. They also praise the good ones. You can read about their qualifications on their website.

Buy Vs. Rent calculators are available but how many realtors (representing you in buying an overpriced house) will break down how much money you’re losing a month by not renting? You can check out some of their sample reports here.

http://www.idealhomebrokers.com/reports/

I think the reports are pretty good. All that being said, I don’t know if they are good realtors or not. But regardless of whether you use them, you might want to read about their views on Vegas investment properties.

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